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A precious gemstone highly admired for its unique color and considered to possess spiritual quality, jade has been used by Chinese to create ornamental items for over 10,000 years. The tradition of making jade items began as early as the Neolithic period, and continued through every stage of China’s history into the present day. The profound influence of jade on Chinese culture can be seen in almost all aspects of the life of Chinese: custom, mannerism, literature, philosophy, art, and spiritual beliefs. As recent as 60 years ago, exquisitely-made jade ornaments were still one of the things used by the Chinese upper class to show their status and wealth. In Beijing, take a private tour with a Beijing tour operator to discover beautiful jade works in the city’s amazing local shops.
A common trait across all varieties of jade is having an incredibly soft, smooth, and warm appearance that sometimes belies the fact that it is actually especially hard. Beneath the hard surface, the exquisite color has a sense of purity and ephemeral beauty that seems to have been captured in eternity. For this appealing quality and other of its purported health and spiritual benefits, jade has won the hearts and minds of Chinese, who regard it as not only possessing the highest form of beauty, but representing all that is good about a virtuous gentleman. Confucius, the most famous Chinese thinker, once said: “The wise have likened jade to virtue.”
The discovery of jade in the Neolithic period is believed to be a result of the ancient stone-tool making practice. On the sites of two pre-historic Chinese cultures, Liangzu and Hongshan, archaeologists found a large variety of jade artifacts used for different purposes. According to one historical account written 3,000 years ago, the mining of jade had already been practiced for several thousand years by that time. Jade works unearthed from ancient burial sites confirmed that early on the ownership of jade was considered an exclusive privilege of the ruling class.
In later times, as Chinese society became more and more complex, and the skills of artisans to make decorative works were greatly improved, jade works became a popular form of art. According to historical account, during the Zhou dynasty one of the most popular practices among the upper class people was wearing different jade ornaments to show one’s taste in art and knowledge of jade. In the Song dynasty, the fashion of jade advanced to a new level. Creative artisans from this period invented many different types of jade works to meet people’s demand to appreciate the beauty of jade in new ways. Ming and Qing dynasties saw a peak of the development of jade art. New design repeatedly appeared during this time.
The enormous influence of jade on Chinese culture even extends to language. “Yu”, the Chinese character for jade, is now used to refer to many different types of gemstones that have a similar appearance to jade. But in fact there are only two varieties of gemstones that can be classified as jade – nephrite and jadeite.
Nephrite – All jade works made in China before 1800s were believed to be nephrite. Called “soft jade” in Chinese, it measures 5.5 – 6.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, somewhat softer than jadeite which measures 6.5 – 7.0. Nephrites with different colors are put into different classes, the highest class being “mutton fat”, which shows a cream, white color. Other main colors include white, gray, green, dark green, yellow, and black. The Khotan region in Xinjiang province produced the most famous nephrite. But due to overexploitation, the reserve there was depleted.
Jadeite – Jadeite is a rarer and more precious type of jade than nephrite. After introduced from Burma to China in the 19th century, it immediately captured the attention of the ruling class with its exquisite beauty and wide range of colors and became their favorite. It shows over 20 different colors, emerald green being the most admired.
Remember that in many local shops of Beijing, there are extraordinary jade works created by some of the best artisans in China. When you are in the city, find a Beijing guide to help you find the best shops and offer you tips on purchasing different types of products.
by A. Lao
